Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 10th, 2001
Intro
For you British comedy fans out there, do I have a treat for you? The BBC has released the complete Fawlty Towers collection on DVD, and it is a very nice 3-Disc set.
Synopsis
“John Cleese stars as Basil Fawlty, the sharp-tongued, short-tempered owner of Fawlty Towers, a hotel plagued by crisis, chaos and bizarre characters.”
Audio
Considering that this collection is a 22 year old television series, the 2.0 audio is pretty good. Sure, you won’t get any notice...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 6th, 2001
Intro
This is an interesting film; not for the fact that it is a really good film, but for the fact that it was totally shot digitally. This method of filmmaking creates an interesting feel for the film, as if it was shot with a home video camera chronicling the life of the characters.
Synopsis
DIARY OF SEX ADDICT is the erotic and disturbingly arousing glimpse into the obsessive life of a sexual compulsive. By all outward appearances, Sammy Horn’s (Des Barres) life appears to be the ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 1st, 2001
Intro
Here’s a real treat for the baseball fans out there, but the appeal of the film doesn’t end with them. Anyone interested in the experience of the American Jewish community, or in the social history of the States in the 30s and 40s, will find this documentary absorbing.
Synopsis
Hank Greenberg was the first Jewish baseball superstar. Though he was very much a Brooklyn native, the bulk of his career was with the Detroit Tigers. The film presents the story of his life through interv...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 12th, 2001
Intro
This is something of a surprise: a rather nice presentation of a film almost universally characterized as misbegotten.
Synopsis
An non-horror remake of what many consider the greatest horror film ever made, James Whale’s Bride of Frankenstein (1935), this film sees Charles (Charles?!) Frankenstein (Sting) make a female creature, Eva (Jennifer Beals). Both Frankenstein and his male creature Viktor (Clancy Brown) fall in love with Eva. Both creatures struggle to establish their ow...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 12th, 2001
Intro
In the wake of the successful remake of The Fly came this retread of the 1958 B-picture classic.
Synopsis
A meteor crashes to the ground just outside the town of Arborville. An old man pokes at it, releasing a crimson blob that goes on the rampage, growing ever larger as it consumes every living thing in its path. Can the courageous high school kids, led by rebel biker Kevin Dillon, save the day?
Audio
In this day and age when mono films are being remixed into ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 11th, 2001
Intro
Everybody’s favorite reality based television show has come to video for the second time, courtesy of Paramount. Unfortunately this is not the complete second season of Survivor, only a “best of” compellation. We are introduced to the contestants that we have all come to either love (Elizabeth & Colby) or hate (Jerri & Kimmi), and are shown some of their footage from the show and the entry videos that the contestants submitted.
Audio
I would call the audio on this disc “made fo...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 30th, 2001
Intro
I have seen many fabulous restorations of old films in the past, and even though this restoration does not compare to that of Lawrence of Arabia or Gandhi, Columbia-Tristar did a really good job. Unfortunately, this Academy Award winning Best Picture did not get the DVD release it deserved. If you have not seen his film, here is a synopsis from the press release:
Synopsis
“KRAMER VS. KRAMER is a story of contemporary relationships, values and choices. Returning home late from w...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 3rd, 2001
Intro
It never ceases to amaze me the amount of effort that DreamWorks puts into each and every one of their DVD releases. Not having heard of this film before, I was not sure what to expect from the DVD release. But DreamWorks came though, and even though An Everlasting Piece is a very non-mainstream film, it is still given a great treatment on DVD. What DreamWorks does best, in my opinion, is create fabulous menus, great picture quality, and best of all, amazing sound quality. Just so you have an u...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 30th, 2001
Intro
This was the last of the notable Rat Pack films. No more Sinatra and Martin after this, only dire stuff with Sammy Davis Jr. and Peter Lawford.
Synopsis
We’re in pretty familiar territory here. Call it Rat Maverick. Sinatra and Martin are cowboys engaged in jocular warfare over big money and the riverboat scene. They don’t really want to kill each other. Victor Buono and Charles Bronson, on the other hand, DO want to put paid to our heroes. Anita Ekberg and Ursula Andress provide...
